


The Void that Opened

by StarSlayersFantasy



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Rogue One, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Rebels, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-10 17:06:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 15,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8925259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarSlayersFantasy/pseuds/StarSlayersFantasy
Summary: Jyn and Cassian barely escape the shockwave that destroys the Imperial base. They have little time to come terms with the loss they experienced on Scarif, or to accept that their feelings for each other have turned into something stronger before they are thrust back into the chaos that is war.





	1. Survival

**Author's Note:**

> I saw Rogue One the day it came out and I was obsessed with it. Now I have watched it 3 times and its safe to say I'm even more obsessed with it than I was before. Hence this fic.

The elevator down to the surface was agonisingly slow as Jyn and Cassian stood inside it, it's lights were dim and flickering, and their bodies were pressed close as they stared into each other's eyes with a wave of understanding. Jyn could feel Cassian's hitched breath on her face, he was holding onto his side and struggling to stand, looking as if he was going to drop at any second. His eyes were saying so many different things and Jyn looked into them and thought only of how in this moment she wanted nothing more than for them to hold onto one another, _to be safe, to survive_. The Death Star was targeting Scarif and Jyn knew it meant that she and Cassian won't escape, she had seen the massive moon like object in the sky just as the elevator doors had closed and shut out the light. She knew what it meant, and so did Cassian.

_'God's did Jyn want him to survive, she didn't want him to die here. The others were probably dead by now, and she knew that they would soon follow, but even then she didn't care for her life, she had succeeded, the sacrifice her father made was not in vain. They had transmitted the Death Star plans, the rebels had to have gotten the plans. It can't have been for nothing. The crew of Rogue One had lit the spark that would change the Rebel alliance into something that could stand against the might of the Empire. And yet all Jyn could think of was how much she wanted Cassian to survive.'_

 "Jyn" the words were a whisper on Cassian's lips, he wanted to say so much but the words failed him. He traced his fingers lightly over her jawline and leant towards her ever so slightly. When the elevator doors opened Cassian's eyes were still fixed on Jyn's. She took hold of him and he supported his weight on her as the stepped out into the small hallway at the bottom of the elevator and they headed for the exit.

When they reached the outside and their feet hit the sandy beach they were blinded for a second by the bright explosion of light on the horizon, the ground trembled and the blooming light caused by the explosion far out to the sea grew larger by the second with violent shockwave flowed out towards the beach they stood on.

Jyn scanned their environment looking for a last ditch attempt at keeping the both of them alive and there it was.  _Hope_.

"There's a ship over there, Come on, we have to make it," Jyn said in a plea when she got sight of an Imperial shuttle that had been left abandoned during the battle on Scarif. "It's not much further, We have to make it" the words were a cry of frustration as she wobbled on her feet trying desperately to make their way to the ship.

Jyn could feel the heat on her right side as shockwave caused by the Death Star grew closer by the second. She was still supporting Cassian's weight as they moved along the beach towards the ship, Cassian's feet were sinking with each step along the sandy beach as his legs struggled to carry him further. The body of a dead rebel lay lifeless on the ground with his gun still in his hands, Jyn did her best to shield the dead man from Cassian's view 

"Just Go! I won't make it" Cassian urged her as he felt his body weakening with every second, Jyn was dragging him towards the shuttle with every ounce of strength she had left, his words only spurring her on further. Sweat dripping off her forehead and her breathing heavy and ragged as she pulled him along. The rumbling of the blast was getting louder as it drew nearer.

"I'm not leaving you If you can't keep walking" she panted, sweat dripping off her forehead and her breathing heavy and ragged as she pulled him along. The rumbling of the blast was getting louder as it drew nearer.Jyn's willing to stay behind on the beach with him was exactly what drove Cassian towards the ship. 

Jyn's willing to stay behind on the beach with him was exactly what drove Cassian towards the ship. 

When their feet finally hit the metal ramp of the ship there was no feeling of relief, the shockwave was like a hound biting at their heels, Cassian used all the strength he could muster to pull himself towards the pilot's chair, he sunk down into the seat and Jyn fell into the co pilot's chair, she flipped the switched that made the ramp fold inwards and close and the ship shuddered as Cassian powered up the thrusters.

Cassian spared her a brief look before the ship launched, it pulled up into the air and lurched forwards just as the shockwave reached where the ship had been only seconds before. They flew just ahead of the shockwave and the ship shook violently as it gained on them. "We're going to have to make the jump to lightspeed from the planet" Cassian warned Jyn as he got ready to activate the switch, Jyn took hold of his hand holding the lever and together they pushed it forwards, her eyes locked on his own as their ship hurtled into hyperspace.

"Just like Jedha" Jyn noted. Her eyes broke away from Cassian's gaze and she scanned his body. He was hurt, badly. His eyes returned to the console and he went to work at setting a course for the rebel base on Yavin 4, Cassian shifted in his seat to lean over and flip a small switch and the movement caused him to fall back into his chair with a groan.

"Please," he said through gritted teeth and he jerked his head in the direction of the switch and Jyn leant over him and flipped it. When she pulled back her hand she took his and rubbed her thumb gently over the back of his hand. ' _They had survived. Together'_ She thought, Her eyes grew damp as a rush of realisation flooded her that they had actually made it off of the planet. Jyn rose from her seat and ignored the sting of pain she felt when she put weight on her injured leg, Cassian lets go of her hand rather reluctantly when she moves to go explore the ship in the hope of finding a medkit onboard somewhere. She didn't hear Cassian whisper "Jyn" under his breath as she left the cockpit.

The shuttle was a small one, probably designed to be some officers personal transport and hold only a few stormtroopers. It had a ladder leading to a lower compartment that contained a small bunk with a door crammed next to it that led to a small built in refresher containing a toilet and sink. It wasn't a higher-ups ship that was obvious. Under the bunk was an unused med kit, Jyn slowly sank to her knees to retrieve the small metal box, she placed it onto the bunk and opened it up to examine its contents. The med kit contained a single bacta pad, a suturing kit and a few bandages. It would have to make do until they reached the rebel base. Jyn picked the kit back up and limp off towards the ladder with it in hand, climbing the ladder back up took more effort than Jyn would ever be willing to admit, her body was ready to collapse by the time she made it back to the cockpit. 

Cassian's arms hung loosely at the sides of his chair and his body was slouched and his breathing was weak, sounding strained after each gasp of air, the rise and fall of his chest bringing him pain. Jyn rushed back to his side and knelt down next to him. His eyes were closed and his head hung limply.

"Cassian" Jyn called to him, taking his face in both hands "Cassian, you have to wake up" he was unresponsive and 

" _Please,"_  she whispered, hot wet tears started to streak down her face and she stared up at him desperately.

_'This cannot happen, not now, not after we've done so much.'_

 Cassian's eyes fluttered open to find Jyn's staring directly into them, fear and worry spread across her face. "It's ok, I'm here, I'm fine" he cooed moving his hand weakly to her face, his fingers wiping away the remnants of tears from her cheeks. 

"I thought I might lose you," Jyn sobbed with a wave of relief as Cassian's fingers brushed gently over her face. 

"I refuse to die that easily, Jyn Erso" Cassian wheezed slightly, his lungs pained him at the smallest movement. He outstretched both arms with a wince and took hold of her shoulders gently  "Your father would be so proud of you" 

"I couldn't have done it without you, or the others" she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to compose herself, Cassian's strength failed slightly and his hands sunk away from her shoulders and he fell back into the chair with a sigh, the rim of his eyes were damp and he breathed deeply. 

Jyn picked the med kit up and opened it before taking the single bacta pad out "There was only one bacta pad in the kit, what part hurts most Cassian?"

He pointed weakly to his chest, Jyn reached up to his collar and started unbuttoning his shirt, his bare chest was bruised deeply where most of his ribs had broken, Jyn peel the bacta pad off the see-through film it was stuck on and placed it above his right lung, that side of his body looked considerably worse for wear than the other. Her fingers traced lightly over the hair on his chest, she took hold of his shirt again and started to button it back up.

 

\----------------------

 

They reached Yavin 4 not long after and hailed the comms tower making sure they knew they were in a stolen Imperial shuttle, Cassian was barely able to land the ship before passing out and Jyn held onto his hand as she too felt a sudden weakness, she managed to stay conscious as the rebel medics loaded Cassian onto a stretcher and pulled him out of her reach. They clambered over to her as well and helped her up and walked her over to the stretcher that was closest, they had more waiting. Evidently, they thought there would be more survivors. Only Jyn and Cassian had survived the fight on the surface of Scarif.The medical staff that hadn't rushed off with Cassian to the med bay helped lay Jyn onto the stretcher. 

Jyn had managed to say Cassian's name before promptly passing out. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be longer, I always struggle a bit with starting a story


	2. The Recovery Ward

 When Jyn and Cassian had landed the stolen Imperial shuttle at the rebel base located on the fourth moon of Yavin there had been a whole team of medics that had been awaiting their arrival and when it had proved to be only two survivors on the ship a solemn atmosphere had spread across the base. When the medics had wheel Jyn and Cassian's unconscious bodies through the base towards the med bay everyone they passed had stood there watching with sombre expressions. This was all that was left of the ground forces on Scarif, a Rebel Captain and his rogue companion. Some of the soldiers had looked hopeful and ran towards them as they were wheeled by and only for their expressions to turn into looks of dismay when it was not the faces they had desperately hoped to see.

 

\--------------

The first time Jyn woke up her mind was surrounded with an uncontrollable heaviness as she struggled to focus on her environment. The only sound that filled Jyn's room was the consistent and steady beep of the monitor connected her chest. She had been asleep in the bed of a small hospital bunk that was set in the corner of a small room filled with medical equipment.

They had put her into a Bacta tank to help heal her broken bones and exhausted body. Her leg wasn't quite healed after the short time they had her in the tank the pain was not so unbearable as it had been before. 

_Where was Cassian? Where was she?_

She pushed herself into a sitting position and the heart monitor beeped more alarmingly at the sudden movement of her weakened body. An Intravenous was connected to a needle in her hand that had been taped over to hold it in place and Jyn started to pick at the tape, her mind still heavy from whatever drugs had been pumped through her system to assist her healing. 

"Ms Erso I must advise that you stop what you're doing, The IV is providing you with vital things to your recov-" a medical droid had entered her room and had started to protest her removal of the IV only stopped mid-sentence in dismay when she managed to rip the thing out of her skin " Ms Erso please! you must calm yourself!" the droid said in distress as she moved to sit with her legs hanging off the bed. It was an old 2-1B surgical droid that looked like it had existed for decades now and was probably from the clone wars.

"Cassian," Jyn said in a hoarse whisper "Where is he, where is Cassian?" 

The droid had rushed to her side and attempted to still her movements as she ripped off the small pads that were stuck to her chest connecting her to the heart monitor "Captain Andor is in the intensive care ward being treated for his injuries " 

 "I have to see him, I have to" she stood up from the bed and steadied herself as her bad leg almost gave way after the sudden pressure. She was in a basic tunic 

"You may see Captain Andor once you are physically capable, but for now you must rest Ms Erso, or I will be forced to call in medical staff to restrain and sedate you" the 2-1B droid informed her. Jyn pushed past the droid and headed for the door. The droid did not hesitate to reach over and press the alarm button that hung off her medical bunk. Jyn slammed her hand onto the panel next to the door and it slid open and she stepped out into the makeshift hospital wing that the rebels had made on the base. She barely made it five metres before her leg gave way and she toppled to the ground, as medical staff ran towards her. 

"Inform Mon Mothma that she's woken up" a tall man called to the 2-1B droid that stood in the doorway of her room, the droid hurried off in what one could assume was its best attempt at running only looked more like a fast paced shuffle. The man knelt down next to her with a look of worry spread across his features. " I must insist you let me help you back to your bunk" he took hold of her shoulder and pulled her up into a standing position. He was in a white medical staff tunic and two other medics stood next to them.

"I must see Cassian, _I need_ _too_ ," she said rather desperately as she leant on the man for support. It was surprising how much she had tuned out the pain of her leg back on Scarif and in the imperial shuttle, the thought of an injured Cassian had been much more important to her than her own pain.

"You will soon, but he is still in intensive care at the moment. Once he is in the recovery ward I shall see to it personally that you get to see him. But until then I must insist that you return to your bunk and let us sedate you so you may heal more" The man slowly started steering her back in the direction of her room and she obliged, a feeling of blood rushing to her head and a sudden dizziness taking over her senses. 

The man deposited her back onto her bunk and the 2-1B droid moved to prepare the sedative before injecting it into one of her arteries visible in the inner part of her elbow.

A weight fell over her mind as the sedatives took effect and she fell back into a dreamless sleep.

 

\-----------------

The second time Jyn woke up in her hospital bunk she was not alone in her room. 

2-1B stood next to her bunk watching her closely as she shifted in her bed. 

Her mind was not as heavy and she could focus more clearly than the last time she had woken up. She pulled herself into an upright position and the droid helped prop her bed pillows up behind her back. This time she had no IV connected to her and the heart monitor had been

"How long has it been since we got back to the base? After what happened on Scarif" she questioned the droid, as she realised she had no idea just how much time had passed.

"Five days, thirteen hours and twenty-eight minutes" the droid informed her matter of factly before adding "Ms Erso I have been ordered to inform you of Captain Andor's move into the recovery ward, he is in a stable condition" 

"May I see him now?" she asked tentatively.

"Doctor Caliso will be the one to decide that" the droid informed her. The droid headed towards the door of her room.

"Wait!" she called after the droid. It turned to look at her " Call me, Jyn"

 

When the door opened again it was not 2-1B entering but instead the man that had spoken to her the first time she woke up, he was tall and lanky, with a boney face and short bright blond hair and looked to be in his forties. He was wearing the same white tunic he had before.

"You're Doctor Caliso I presume?" Jyn said as he walked in and stood next to her bed, his face stoic and unchanging. 

"Indeed I am," he said before pulling the tunic she wore up above her knee to inspect her leg where it had been broken "Your bruising has gone down a considerable amount since we put your leg into the bacta a second time, tell me does it still hurt severely when I press against it, or is it just sore" His thumb pressed heavily against the bruise and it stung where he pushed but overall was rather bearable. 

"It's fine" she replied in a monotone voice. 

"You said I could go see Cassian once he's in the recovery ward. I want to go see him now" She added with an intense look as she stared at Doctor Caliso.

"I will take you to Captain Andor, only if you agree to use a wheelchair though" Doctor Caliso replied. Jyn nodded in response.

 

As Doctor Caliso wheeled her over to the recovery ward for patients that had been in intensive care they passed by many other medical bunks that were filled with rebel soldiers of all different species, that were being treated for a whole array of different injuries. A Twi'lek woman was sat upright in her bunk reading a datapad and looked up from it to stare at Jyn with an expression of awe. The left side of her face and left tendril were wrapped in heavy bandaging.

"She was on one of the ships that went to fight at scarif with Admiral Raddus and the fleet, hull breach blew up part of her ship and caused a chain reaction that caused a console to blow up in her face, the surviving members of her crew were saved minutes before the Death Star fired" Doctor Caliso informed her after they had passed the Twi'leks bunk. 

 

They reached the end of the intensive care and recovery ward and Doctor Caliso pressed a button on the panel next to the door they were next to and it slid up. He took hold of Jyn's wheelchair and pushed her into the room.

Cassian lay motionless on a medical bunk that was in the centre of the room, the equipment in here was much more impressive than the tiny room Jyn had been in, he was hooked up to a wide array of machines that each had their own purpose and a breathing mask sat over his nose and mouth.

"Why isn't he still in the bacta?" Jyn questioned with a worried look towards Cassian.

"We're a base of Rebels Ms Erso, we simply can't use that much bacta on one person. We don't have the resources" Doctor Caliso said in earnest tone.

"Why was I put into bacta then?" Jyn demanded as she wheeled herself over towards Cassian's body and took hold of his hand.

"The first time you went into the bacta tank was under Senator Mothmas order, the second time we only submerged your leg, on both occasions, you were not in for long. Captain Andor, on the other hand, had a collapsed lung, six broken ribs, head trauma and a fractured arm. Once he had been through surgery he went into the bacta for three days. We simply can't use anymore on him now his body has healed most of his wounds." Doctor Caliso said as he moved over to help Jyn into the chair next to Cassian's bed. He moved the wheelchair over to the side of the room and turned to leave. He halted in the doorway before leaving and added "I will see to it that no one makes you leave until you are ready" 

The door shut behind him and now it was just Jyn sitting next to Cassian's unconscious body. She ran her thumb over the back of his hand and stared up at him, despite all the machines attached to him and the consistent beeping of monitors and the sound of air going through his breathing mask, he looked peaceful. Oblivious the world around him and the woman sat at his side. 

 

\---------------

The third time Jyn woke up was due to the gentle calling of her name. She had her arms and head resting on the side of Cassian's bunk and soft fingers brushed her hair away from her eyes. 

She looked up to see Cassian watching her as she looked around the room before her eyes locked onto his. Her expression changed from one of concern to relief. He no longer had the breathing mask or most of the machines hooked up to him. 

"You're awake" she stated simply. 

"I'm awake" was all Cassian said in response to what she said, he was still watching her closely the corners of his mouth raised slightly in a smile. 

Without thinking Jyn lurched forwards from where she was sat and pulled Cassian into a hug, Cassian winced slightly at her carelessness but wrapped his arms around her in response. 

"I thought you were going to die. Back on the ship. Back on Scarif" she sniffed as her eyes grew damp and tears threatened to fall.

Cassian said nothing as he held her, he rested his chin atop her head and pressed a gentle kiss on her hair.  

"I haven't really thought about the others yet. I was so worried about you I didn't have time to truly acknowledge that they're gone, but now it's all I can think about" She no longer held back the tears that had threatened to fall and they ran down her cheek freely.

"We couldn't have done it without them,"  Cassian said in a choked voice "They didn't die in vain Jyn,"

The door to Cassian's room opened abruptly and Doctor Caliso walked in. Cassian did not let go of Jyn as the man strolled over to his bunk.

"The Senator has called for you both to a meeting," he said as he looked examined one of the machines hooked up to Cassian. 

2-1B shuffled into the room holding a tray with clothing on, the tray also had the shoes that they had both worn to Scarif. Jyn broke away from Cassian to watch the droid, she wiped the tears away from her face and stood up " I retrieved some of your clothing from your quarters Captain Andor and I acquired some new clothing for you, _Jyn_ " The droid brought the tray of clothing over to the bunk and dumped its contents onto Cassian's legs rather unceremoniously.

"You will report to her once dressed" Doctor Caliso turned on his heels and left the room. 

2-1B stood there watching them both. "Do you require assistance dressing?" the medical droid asked and Cassian shook his head. 

2-1B didn't move. "You can go now" 

"Oh! Yes of course! Humans quite like privacy, sometimes I forget" the droid said in a flustered tone as it shuffled as fast as possible to the door.

"Such silly habits indeed" they heard the droid say to no one in particular as it left and closed the door behind itself. 

Jyn couldn't help but smile after the quirky medical droid.

Cassian moved to sit on the edge of his bunk, wincing slightly at the movement before he reached over and grabbed the clothes the droid had left for him.

"Help me out of this tunic would you," Cassian asked. Jyn moved over to where he was sat and helped him pull the clothing up over his head. He wore nothing apart from a pair of plain white briefs. Cassian's torso was littered with scars that covered his muscles, some old and barely visible while others were deeper and still pink around the edges where they hadn't fully healed yet. Jyn's breath hitched slightly as she looked at his bare chest and if it weren't for her cheeks already being red from her crying Cassian would have noticed the flush that spread across them. Jyn helped Cassian pull his shirt on and he buttoned it up over his torso.

**_Cassian Andor was a handsome man._ **

_Jyn knew that from the start. Yet when Jyn had been saved by Cassian after he had shot Krennic by the comm dish she hadn't just thought he looked handsome. She had thought that he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, while it was probably just the relief of seeing him alive when she thought he had fallen to his death after Krennic had shot him, she had not forgotten what she felt in that moment._

_Yet when Jyn had been saved by Cassian after he had shot Krennic by the comm dish she hadn't just thought he looked handsome. She had thought that he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen, while it was probably just the relief of seeing him alive when she thought he had fallen to his death after Krennic had shot him, she had not forgotten what she felt in that moment._

_She cared deeply for Cassian. After all, h_ _e had been the first person she truly felt she could rely on in years._

Snapping out of her thoughts Jyn moved to grab the clothing that the droid had left for her. She pulled the trousers on before turning her back to Cassian and pulling her hospital tunic up and over her head, to reveal her bare chest. Jyn was not usually one to feel too modest but having Cassian in such close vicinity to her made her body tingle slightly.

In a way, she hoped Cassian's eyes brushed over her back, hoped that he too felt slightly off put by their current closeness.

Jyn pulled the shirt over her head and turned back to face Cassian. He was wearing the trousers 2-1B had bought for him and standing behind her pulling his jacket on. Jyn knelt down and slipped her feet into her shoes before helping Cassian put on his own pair. He took her hand and helped pull her back up to her feet when she struggled to put the weight back on her leg.

Cassian didn't let go of her hand as they slowly walked out the room. While his body was mostly healed after the bacta it still hurt to move too fast at times and they had to stop on more than one occasion during the walk to the meeting. 

 Neither of them spoke on the way there and only when they pressed the button on the panel by the doors of the command centre did he finally let go of her hand.

"Ready?" he asked as they stood in the now open doorway. She nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's a much longer chapter than the first. I'm not sure how soon I will get the next chapter up as I'm back to work tomorrow although I may try and write some more tonight if possible :D   
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter.


	3. The Story of Scarif

Cassian and Jyn walked into the command centre side by side and Jyn suddenly felt an overwhelming desire to run away as many of the rebel officers stopped what they were doing to stare at Jyn and Cassian with bated breath. The room fell silent as Jyn and Cassian stopped on the opposite side of the large circular holo table that Mon Mothma and General Draven stood next to. The air was tense as everyone in the room watched the scene unfold, most of the council had returned to the ships or been sent on urgent missions after what happened at Scarif.

"Senator" Cassian gave a bow of his head in her direction and then looked towards the man stood next to her "General"

"I trust you are both on the mend now," Mon Mothma said with an air of grace that she always upheld even after things had taken a turn for the worse.

"As well as one can be, all things considered," Cassian remarked. " Senator, we are still in the dark about what happened after we left Scarif" 

"We will get to that in due time" General Draven cut in "But first we want a run down of what happened on the planet surface. You two are the only ground forces that didn't perish at the Imperial base" 

His words were like a punch to Jyn.

 _Part of her had been sure they were the only survivors, But it still broke her heart to have it be confirmed._  

"I put together a crew of volunteers" Cassian started, sparing Jyn a glance as he spoke" We used the ship we had escaped Eadu in as cover to get through the shield gates at Scarif. Once we touched down an imperial inspection team entered the ship. Jyn and I used their uniforms to get as far into the Imperial base as we could without being discovered. K-2SO got us a map of the base after extracting it from another KX droids memory banks. The crew of Rogue One placed out explosives on different landing pads in order to draw out as many Stormtroopers from the base and under my order detonated them.

Jyn, Kay and I proceeded to the vault in which the plans were kept. The shield was still up at the time and it needed to be destroyed for us to send the plans. I managed to contact Bodhi and get him to comm one of the Alliance ships fighting in space and get them to destroy the shield. Kay stayed outside the vault on the console to locate the right file. He locked the vault behind us when Stormtroopers-" Cassian halted for a moment, the acknowledgement of Kays sacrifice wore down heavy on him as he continued " Kay saved us. We had to climb up to get to the file that contained the Death Star plans"

"My father had named the plans Stardust, it's what he would call me as a child. He knew that if I was alive and had seen his message that I would go to Scarif. He planned for it all along. Without him none of this would have been possible" Jyn said through gritted teeth "He gave up everything to make it possible for us to destroy the Death Star. And you killed him"

"I acted as I saw necessary"  General Draven stated as he stared at Jyn.

"You almost got Jyn killed!" Cassian's voice rose up in anger.

"And you disregarded a direct order!" Draven's voice was loud and any of the officers that had gone back to woke all stopped after the sudden outburst of the two men.

"Enough!" Mon Mothmas voice cut across the two men and she shot General Draven a look that silenced any protest he might have had " This can be a discussion for later! I want Captain Andor to continue recounting the events of Scarif" 

 Cassian had the whole room's attention when he started speaking again."We were ambushed by Director Krennic and during the fight, I was shot and fell onto a lower platform. When I came to, Jyn and Krennic were gone. I was too injured to climb back up, so I made my way to the bottom of the data vault and searched for an elevator to the top. Once I got up to the communication disk I shot Krennic in the back before he could harm Jyn. The Death Star fired on Scarif just as we got into the elevator. By the time we made it onto the surface we barely made it into a nearby Imperial Shuttle that had been abandoned in the fight. The shockwave hit all but seconds after we launched." 

"What have we missed while we were in recovery?" Jyn questioned.

"Admiral Raddus, Commander of the ship, Profundity, received the plans just seconds before Imperial destroyers disabled his ship, Rebel soldiers managed to get the plans onto Princess Organa's ship the Tantive Four. It is believed all those on the Profundity that did not make it to the Tantive Four died. Princess Organa's ship was boarded by Darth Vader mere hours later above Tatooine. The plans and the Princess are currently unaccounted for" Mon Mothma paused with a solemn look.

"What do you mean unaccounted for?!" Jyn shouted in dismay. _It can't have been for nothing._

Cassian sunk into the chair he was stood next to, looking as if he was going to be sick. "Surely there must be some news on Leia and the plans"

"I'm afraid not," Mon Mothma said grimly, she shot Draven a look and nodded to him "There is one more thing though"

"Alderaan has been destroyed by the Death Star" General Draven's voice rung in Jyn's ears and a look of horror crossed hers and Cassian's faces.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the shortness of this, i just wanted to get you guys a chapter before i went to bed as i don't know if i will be able to write any tomorrow. hopefully i will find the time after work !


	4. The Wall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up hoping that what happened to Carrie had been some weird and horrible dream and it broke my heart a second time over when I realised it had happened and that she was gone.  
> She was someone who never shied away from speaking about her mental health and I always found her to be incredibly inspirational.  
> The thought of her always made me want to speak my mind more and be open about who I am.
> 
> Rest well Carrie Fisher. You will forever be immortalised as our one true Princess.

When Cassian left the command centre he set off towards his quarters, which to his annoyance were all the way towards the other side of the base. Jyn, on the other hand, had excused herself from the meeting soon after hearing the news of Alderaan's destruction. It was heartbreaking to hear, all the people that died at Scarif only for the plans to be lost and for the Death Star to claim its first planet had made Cassian feel sick to his bones. 

_Had Scarif truly been for nothing?_

He had so desperately believed that going to Scarif would truly make a difference in the war. He had killed and done terrible things in the name of the Rebellion and each time it had weighed down on his conscience and yet he had continued to do what was necessary. For the first time in a long time, he had truly believed in something. 

_He had believed in Jyn._

And together they had made it off of Scarif, together they had finished the mission and made everyone's sacrifices worth a damn. Only they hadn't. The plans were gone. Princess Leia was dead for all he knew. 

The Rebellion looked to be on its last legs. Cassian knew that it wouldn't be long till they disbanded it. Mon Mothma would never be able to convince the whole council to stay committed to the cause. General Draven would most likely be reluctant but take her side and try to keep the Alliance afloat. 

_Cassian didn't know what he would do if they were disbanded._

Part of him couldn't help but think.  _As long as Jyn is with me, leaving the Rebellion doesn't seem like too horrible an idea._

Cassian shook the thought from his mind and dismissed it. The Rebellion was his whole life. Even if it disbanded he would still continue the fight. He wouldn't ever give up the idea of the galaxy one day being free of the corruption that stripped his family away from him at such a young age.

 

When Cassian arrived at his room he stepped inside and his eye instantly caught sight of a small box that sat atop his desk. He had little in this room, he had no personal effects, the only things kept in here were his clothing. So when he saw the little box he instantly knew it had been put there sometime after he had gone to Jedha with Jyn and K-2SO. 

He walked over to the desk and picked up the small metal box hesitantly. He slid open the lid and  Cassian pulled out the small datapad that sat inside the box out and turned it in his fingers curiously.

He turned it on and a message flashed into life on the screen 

 

' Cassian,

_In case I do something absurd and heroic while on Scarif and save everyone in an overly dramatic sacrifice, I thought you might like to bring me back._

_\- K_

_Ps- You better live to bring me back in the first place, or so help me I will find you in whatever afterlife there is and kick your kriffing arse.'_

 

Cassian clicked off of the message to see the single file that the datapad held other than the message that was simply named. 

_K-2SO Backup Drive_

 

A grin spread across Cassian's face and he tucked the small datapad into his pocket. 

Cassian dashed out of the room without thinking. He needed to find Jyn, she would want to know as soon as possible.

\-----

 

Locating Jyn proved much harder than he thought it would, he had checked her room in the med bay, his room in the med bay, and he had gone to the small shuttle and had proceeded to search the rest of the base for her.

Eventually, he found her staring at a large wall that had had names carved into it, she looked over at him and her eyes were red and puffy from fresh tears. He moved next to her and looked at the wall as well.

 

**ROGUE ONE**

 

**Bodhi Rook**

**Chirrut **Îmwe****

****Baze Malbus** **

****K-2SO** **

 

The list continued on, the names of the volunteers that had gone to Scarif, the men that had believed in them. 

Cassian's heart sunk at the sight of the names that had been carved into the wall. Different crews that had perished on the mission to Scarif also filled the wall. 

Jyn wrapped her fingers around Cassian's and spoke in a shaky voice. " It hurts to see all their names there. I didn't know any of the people that went to Scarif with us, I wish I had. I wish I had gotten more time with the others as well"

"I didn't know all of them personally but they were good men. Pretty much all of them had given up a part of themselves for the Rebellion. Lost hope in what it was we were fighting for. But you gave them that hope back" he squeezed her fingers gently as he looked down at her " You have given me that hope back, Jyn"

Cassian removed the datapad from his pocket and handed it Jyn. "They need to strike one name off the list" 

Jyn stared at the datapad in awe.

"You have got to be kidding me," She said after a moment of realisation at what she was holding. "How are we going to bring him back? Like how does it work, Can we just put him into any droids body?" 

"Simply uploading Kay into a random droids body won't work. We will need to gain another droid of his model and completely purge its memory banks before I can even attempt to upload him" Cassian said with a grin " I don't even know if that will work. But it was never like Kay to make anything involving him simple"

"Captain Andor!" a rebel soldier was running towards them both and he stopped in front of them panting and out of breath. 

"Whats happened?" Cassian questioned. 

"Mo-" The soldier stopped and took a deep breath before speaking again "Senator Mothma sent me. There's been an urgent transmission!"

"Princess Leia is on her way to the station and she has the Death Star plans with her!"

 


	5. Departure

Cassian Andor's quarters on the rebel base were small and rather lacking personality. His bed was a small metal frame bunk pushed into the corner with a small bedside table that had nothing but a lamp that didn't even work. The walls were plain metal sheeting and the floor was mainly metal grates with wires and piping running underneath them. Cassian's room held no personal effects other than his clothing which was all neatly folded into the draws.  Jyn was sat on the edge of the bed watching the Captain. 

Leia still had hours till she would arrive at the base and Jyn and Cassian had retreated to his room in the meantime. Most of the base stared at them with looks of pity or expressions of awe whenever they walked past. In the end, they had sort privacy away from all of the prying eyes. 

"Cassian" Jyn gave a huff of annoyance as she watched the Captain pace back and forth in the centre of the room. He stopped to look at her with an apologetic expression " Sit still already. You're making me anxious"

"You're already anxious, " he said before finally resigning himself to sit on the other end of the bed. A noticeable gap between them. "So am I"

"When she gets here. With the plans. What do we do then?" Jyn asked.

"What do you mean?" Cassian stared down at his hands, his shoulders hunched over.

"What are the rebels going to do? What are you going to do? What am I even going to do?" she threw herself further onto the bed and lay on her back.

"The Alliance will fight. They have to" Cassian sighed into his hands " I don't really know where I stand with them anymore."

"Are you leaving? Now you've seen Scarif through. Now the plans are on their way here" he hesitates, his eyes glancing over to where she lay on the bed. 

"There's no place here at the base for me. But I can't just stop. Not after everything we did." she talks after just lying still. ' _she can't stay, not after what happened on Scarif. But she doesn't want to stop fighting for the Rebellion'_   she doesn't say it, but she can tell that Cassian understands.  

She pulls herself into a sitting position and looks towards him. "We should have died. They all look at us like were about to break at any second. We didn't die when so many did, they look at us like were already gone" her eyes can't bear to look into his when she says it. _"Why did we live and so many die. Why us?"_

"We're survivors, Jyn. We've always been survivors" he states it as a fact. A lingering silence falls over the both of them and the most he can do is keep watching her. The slight tightening in his chest he gets whenever he glances at her is all it takes for him to realise, _he doesn't want her to leave._

"We are" she agrees with a solemn nod.

Cassian stands and turns to look at Jyn again. "I wouldn't change what happened. Us surviving. I don't know if we escaped for some design purpose or just on luck, to be honest, I don't care what the reason behind us escaping was. It's just, I didn't want you to die on that planet Jyn" 

Cassian leaves the room and the silence once he's gone is almost unbearable for Jyn. 

She can't stay. That much is now obvious to her. She doesn't want to leave Cassian. But she can't stay here. 

But she can't stay here. 

\---------

 

Senator Mothma strode towards here transport vessel with General Willard in tow, the Rebel base was in chaos inside the hangars. ships were landing and others were being prepared for the oncoming fight that would arrive alongside Leia and the plans. 

Leia would arrive soon and the Senator needed to ensure whatever remaining help they could get was received, along with the fact that she is too valuable to the Rebellion to be on the base in case things go sour. If they failed today, someone would need to keep the Rebellion alive and they had decided that person would be her. She who has dedicated herself to the leadership and guidance of the Rebellion.

Jyn Erso approached the Senator looking like she had just run a mile to catch her before she left.

"Leave us Willard, See to the preparations for the Princesses arrival, I will comm you once I arrive on Felucia," Senator Mothma said with a glance towards him. 

"I shall make the arrangments at once. Safe travels to you, Senator" General Willard bows his head before leaving her and Jyn alone next to Mon Mothmas transport

"What can I do for you, Miss Erso? I must say I am rather stretched for time, so this will have to be a quick talk" she eyed the out of breath woman with a look of interest.

"I need a mission" she states with a look that could easily be described as a plea. 

"Does that mean that you are officially joining the Rebellion?" Mon Mothmas eyebrow raises and her surprise is obvious to Jyn. 

"It can mean whatever you want, I know I will be no help when Leia arrives, staying put while they all go to fight is not something I want to do" Jyn urges her. 

"Most of the council want you and Captain Andor off base. They think you undermine authority, To which I think if you hadn't they would all be licking the Empires boots right now. I was going to give Captain Andor a mission, one to send him far away from the base. I can't have what's left of the council bickering over the fate of you and the Captain while there is a much more urgent problem they need to see too. You shall both carry out the mission for me. I will relay the intel to the transport I organise for you both" Mon Mothma informed Jyn. She felt her heart race slightly,  _'She wouldn't have to leave Cassian'_

"Where will we be going?" Jyn asked. 

 "Nar Shadaa" The Senator gave her a small smile as she stepped inside her transport shuttle. " I believed in you as well, Jyn Erso" the ramp shut behind Mon Mothma and Jyn stepped away from the transport and watch it take off. 

The Senator's words played over in her head.  _'I believed in you as well, Jyn Erso'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the horrible shortness for the last few chapters. I promise to make the next one extra long to make up for it!


	6. Nar Shaddaa

Cassian stood in the small freighter with a feeling of unease. Mon Mothma had relayed the mission details to Cassian shortly after her departure from the base. He was to go to Nar Shaddaa, with _Jyn_. He had wanted to stay here for the arrival of the plans and no doubt the fight that would follow the Princess to the base. After everything they had done to get the plans they were effectively kicking him off base.  

After all, he had acted without the council's permission. He and Jyn had lead countless soldiers to their deaths at Scarif. They had forced the fleet to act, to commit to the war in every way. Mon Mothma had decided the best way to avoid Cassian being reprimanded was to send him away on a mission until the plans for the Death Star were dealt with.  

The freighter had a variety of little rooms. The largest of the rooms was a circular space with a table and rather uncomfortable looking metal chairs located in the centre. The table doubled as a holocomm. There was a total of three sleeping compartments, each with two bunks, one stacked upon the other with a small ladder to climb up to the top bunk and a single refresher. There was also a small storage bay and an engine room that was a rather cramped tunnel-like space under the flooring of the main area. Cassian made his way through to the cockpit where a series of consoles were located along with the pilot and co-pilot's seats. Cassian tucked his large bag he had been holding under one of the consoles and slid down into the pilot's seat with a wince. His ribs still ached at certain movements and heavy bruising still littered his chest even after the bacta.

Jyn appeared in the doorway to the cockpit still holding her own large bag, the strap was draped over her shoulder. Cassian glanced over towards where she stood and looked her up and down. She stood with more pressure going onto her uninjured leg and was holding onto the doorframe to stop herself wobbling.

"I'm going to go put my bag away," she said with a nod and took off towards one of the sleeping compartments.

Cassian initiated the star up for the ship and the ramp to the outside of it sealed shut and he slowly added power to the thrusters. Cassian wasn't very used to flying solo, He'd had K-2SO as his co-pilot for the last three years and it felt uncomfortable to be in control of a ship without him at his side. Jyn knew how to fly, but she rarely sat in front of the controls to a ship if she could help it. 

She returned without her bag and plopped herself down in the chair next to Cassian's.

"It feels like no time has passed since Scarif" Cassian sighed.

"It hasn't. Not for us. The base has had nearly a week to mourn it. I think you have been up for a total of seventeen hours" Jyn spoke quietly her eyes fixed on the console in front of where she sat.

Cassian launched the ship without replying to Jyn. Instead, they sat in silence as they broke away from Yavin Four's atmosphere. Cassian had already done the calculations for the hyperdrive. "Ready?" 

She nodded in response and soon the clear image of space became a blur of blues. The gentle hum that ships always got from Hyperdrives was a little more noticeable in the old YT-2400 freighter but Jyn found it soothing, The Rebel base had always been so loud with everything happening there. Now she and Cassian sat in silence. The Hyperdrive on the ship had been refitted and it would only take half of a standard day to arrive.

"Go rest up, Cass" Jyn stood up and waited for him to move from the pilot's seat. Cassian gave a nod of agreement and rose from his seat with a wince. "You look dead on your feet. We can discuss the mission once you've slept"

"I'm pretty sure a couple of my ribs are still slightly fractured. or that's what it feels like" he pressed a hand onto her shoulder and gazed at her "Will you be alright?" 

Cassian meant the question in more ways than just asking about her being ok while alone in the pilot's seat. 

"I'll be fine" she hesitated slightly, a catch in her voice and her eyes broke away from his and she gently pushed passed him and sat down where he had been sitting.

Cassian didn't press her for more and instead gave a short nod before grabbing his bag from where it sat under the console and leaving the room. 

Once he had placed his things in his own sleeping compartment he made his way over to the refresher. 

Cassian was grateful for the fact this ship had a refresher that was fitted with an actual shower and not just a sonic. Once he had stripped down, albeit rather slowly due to his aching body, he stood under the hot stream of water with a sigh of relief. Since he had woken up his body had felt exhausted and unclean as a result of the bacta tank. It had left a residue on his skin that had left him feeling uncomfortable under his clothes.

 For the first time since he had woken up in the med bay with Jyn at his side, Cassian could truly stop to think about everything.

_Scarif had claimed some part of Cassian. A part that would never truly return to him. The loss experienced on Scarif was something that would haunt him for the rest of his days. While what they did had been absolutely necessary, it had lead to so much death. Death he felt a direct responsibility for. He never expected for them to survive the mission. That had been what made it easier for Cassian. He knew Rogue One would die, and he wanted to die alongside them if that was the case._

Only he wasn't dead and the fact he was still alive left a horrible feeling of guilt inside him.

The hot water beating over Cassian's head as he stood in the shower. His hands were pressed up against the damp walls and his breathing was shaky. His sobs were muffled only by the sound of the running water. 

By the time the water went cold, Cassian's sobs had died away and he was left standing under the cold stream of water his chest heaving from a mixture of the tears and the icy temperature hitting his skin. He switched the water stream off and stood there hands on the damp wall, water dripping off of his body. 

After some time he moved to dry himself and patted himself down with one of the towels that had been hanging on the rack. Cassian caught sight of his face in the mirror. His stubble had grown a little long and was now more noticeable on his face than it had been before and bruises were still noticeable under one of his eyes from where he had fallen in the data vault at Scarif.  

\------------------

 

 

"Jyn. Wake up" Cassian was standing in the doorway to Jyn's room. At some point, Cassian had woken up after having rested and Jyn had proceeded to retreat to her own room so she too could get sleep now he was back in control of the ship. 

Her eyes flickered open and she still looked as if she needed hours more of sleep. But it would have to do. They were nearing Nar Shaddaa.

"We need to talk about the mission," Cassian said before leaving the doorway and walking to holotable.  

Jyn left her room after a few minutes. Now wearing fresh clothes and the jacket she had been given at the base.

"The Alliance has been tracking a Togruta bounty hunter by the name of Shi'ala Rin for over a month now. One of our contacts has her current location. She was key in the capture and imprisonment of five operatives we had in deep cover on Coruscant. Before one of them was captured he managed to message the Alliance saying he was in possession of a data file containing hundreds of Imperial documents. One of the documents on the data file is about an imperial science and engineers base that are key to the manufacturing and design of the Imperial fleet. The Alliance wants that file. Which is currently in the possession of Shi'ala Rin" Cassian entered something in on the Holotable and a map of a city appeared. "This is Krois, It's one of the many crime cities on the moon. We are going to land at one of the imperial docking bays and make our way through to the lower levels of the city where we will meet with a contact of mine."

"An Imperial docking bay. Cassian I'm in the Imperial system. My face will be picked up on the scans" Jyn gave him an incredulous look.

"There's a soldier who has been working undercover at that port for years now, she's going to get us through the spaceport without them picking us up on the system" Cassian answered her before handing her a datapad with the mission info on.

 "What happened to the rebels they imprisoned?" Jyn asked as she pulled up the pictures of the five operatives.

 "Three of them are confirmed dead. The one who sent us the message is unaccounted for along with another. They are presumed dead by this point" Cassian informed her. 

"Do we have aliases?" She questioned. Cassian took the datapad from her and pulled up a screen with her face on.  **Andriania Pyke**.

"You're a smuggler from Ryloth, that's the Twi'lek homeworld. We met on Dantooine four years ago and you have been the first mate on my ship for over a year now, I'm Harrigan. We're on Krois so we can set up a deal with the spice trader Ras Vastiln" Cassian handed her the datapad back and beeping sound emitted from the cockpit.

"We're about to arrive," Cassian said and he took off towards the cockpit and Jyn followed him. 

The ship dropped out of hyperspace and Nar Shaddaa flashed into view. It was a vast network of bright lights from the cities that littered the surface. 

"Krois Spaceport this is Captain Harrigan of the 'Luna Tempest' requesting permission to dock" Cassian announced on the comm channel. 

After a while waiting they got a response "Luna Tempest proceed to dock in hanger 368" 

The ship entered the moon's atmosphere with a shudder at the pressure change and Cassian guided it towards the port. "Keely, do you read?" Cassian said into a new comm channel this time.

"Cass is that you? I wasn't expecting you for another few days" a woman's deep voice responded almost instantly. 

"It got bumped up the timetable. Meet us at hanger 368, I'm about to land, get there as quick as you can" 

"On it" she replied and then her comm channel went silent.

The city grew closer and closer, the lights were almost blinding during the night that fell over the moon. The ship landed with a gentle thud in the large hanger already filled with other ships. 

Cassian tucked one of his blasters into the back of his trousers and then put one into his holster that hung from his side, he took note of Jyn putting a thermal detonator into her pocket and the blaster she picked up and placed into her holster. Cassian lowered the ramp of the ship and they walked down it into the hanger. 

A tall dark purple-skinned Twi'lek woman stood waiting at the bottom, she wore the standard dock worker jumpsuit and smiled at the sight of Cassian. " It's been too long" she had a deep throaty voice, Jyn recognised her as the one Cassian spoke to just before they landed. 

"Where's that infernal droid of yours?" she asked looking past Cassian with a questioning look when she caught sight of Jyn instead.

"Kay's busy with other things" Cassian lied. The Twi'lek noticed the hitch in his voice but chose not press him on the subject. 

"Anyway there are better places for talking than here, come with me before the next Imperial patrol walks past" she wasted no time turning on her heels and taking off to one end of the hanger, Cassian pressed a button on the outer panel of the ship and the ramp closed behind them and they took off in pursuit of the Twi'lek. 

She stood out of view from the rest of the hanger next to supply crates. "In here" she led them through a small metal door that led into a room filled with pipes and hot steam that filled the air.

"The names Leíra," she said to Jyn with a nod. Jyn wasn't sure if she should say her real name or not as she had no idea who this woman really was.

"This is Jyn," Cassian said, sensing her dilemma, he turned to look at her "Leíra's been part of the Alliance since it started, she's trustworthy. Don't worry"

"And I have been at this kriffing dock for more years than I please" Leíra huffed in annoyance "Come on, I only have so long before someone notices my absence" and without another word or gesture she took off down the thin tunnel.

Jyn and Cassian followed her closely and Jyn found herself grabbing hold of Cassian after she slipped on the damp metal grating. He kept her upright for the rest of the walk through the tunnel with one arm locked around her waist. The hot steaminess of the tunnel had both her and Cassian sweating through their clothes. Leíra seemed unphased by the heat and continued on leading them through the labyrinth of pathways like she had done it hundreds of times before. Jyn could only assume she had.

By the time Leíra stopped walking the trio must have been walking for at least half an hour and Jyn's leg had begun to sting and she was using Cassian to support herself now and not just to stop from slipping on the ground. Leíra climbed down a ladder located at the end of the path they had been following and Jyn followed her one after the other. Leíra entered something on a panel next to a door and it slid up revealing the lower city of Krois. All the lights in the lower city were bright neons and flashing shop signs for seedy bars and traders

"I will meet you here when you're ready to go back to the ship. You won't be able to navigate those tunnels without me, also take this" Leíra handed Jyn a small communicator before giving Cassian a nod and taking off the way they had come. 

"I know where to go from here, although it's been a long time since I walked these streets" Cassian pulled Jyn along in the right direction and they ended up walking for another hour before he stopped her in front of a pawn shop. 

"In here" Cassian entered the shop after letting go of Jyn, there were strings of beads hanging from the ceiling in the doorway and they rattled as he and Jyn walked inside. There was a strong smell of incense and the narcotic called Spice. Jyn recognised the smell instantly from here years spent in criminal dens.

An old withered human sat in a chair by the counter inside the shop and he paid little interest to the two of them. 

"I'm here to buy back an item of great value to my family. You have been in possession of it for many years now, a small sigil, with a creature called a varactyl on it." Cassian said as he approached the counter. 

The old man's eyes gave a look of acknowledgement at the code Cassian used and he rose from where he sat and walked over to a door behind the counter and bashed his cane on the metal, it opened up and he ushered them inside. The door shut tight behind them and they stood inside a large cantina filled with different races all drinking and chattering while loud music played. 

Cassian took hold of Jyn's hand and led her through the place to a booth in the far corner of the room where a man sat on his own drinking deeply.

"Captain Andor, I didn't expect you for a few days yet" the man spoke in a shaky voice as Cassian and Jyn sat on the opposite side of the booth. 

"Well, I'm here now" Cassian eyed the man with a look of unease. "Trisk, you have info on Rin's location"

"I-I do yes" his voice shook and his eyes glanced around the room, Jyn wrote it off as paranoia, but Cassian's brow furrowed as he watched Trisk. "She arrived on Krois a week ago, she's had her people set up shop here" 

"I need to know where" Cassian demanded.

"There's an old dilapidated factory her crews set up in. She's got business with one of the Hutt clan. I don't know what sort of business it is but her groups been scanning the lower city for something" Trisk said quickly his eyes still flickering around the room. Cassian caught sight of something he was holding under the table and lunged at the man, Cassian slid round to Trisk's side of the booth and pinned him to his chair and ripped the flashing stick from Trisk's hand and chucked it towards Jyn. She caught hold of it.

"What is it?" Cassian's eyes didn't break away from Trisk's as he asked Jyn.

"It's a tracking beacon" She looked up from the flashing item and caught eyes with Cassian, a look of worry spread across her face.

Cassian's eyes locked back onto Trisk's.

"You kriffing traitor! How much did you get to sell us out?!" Cassian shouted at the man.

Trisk was struggling with Cassian's grip trying to break free of his hold, he managed to break one arm free and grabbed hold of the mug of alcohol and threw the liquid directly into Cassian's eyes before smashing the mug over Cassian's head and then slamming his face down onto the table before diving from the booth. Jyn lunged at him, throwing herself from her seat and grabbing onto Trisk's waist and throwing both of them to the ground. Trisk slammed his boot into Jyn's face and she felt the crack of her nose, her grip loosened on Trisk and he wriggled free and got to his feet. Cassian who had finally managed to climb free of the booth, a large cut over one eye, leapt over Jyn and after Trisk. 

An alien woman pulled Jyn to her feet and Jyn barely acknowledged her as she took off after Cassian. Blood was streaming down her mouth, her nose bleeding heavily. Jyn followed them through the back door of the Cantina into the dark alleyway. Jyn drew to a halt instantly. A triad of heavily armoured aliens stood there with their blaster rifles aimed directly at Jyn. Cassian was lying on the ground with a small pool of blood forming from the deep wound on the back of his head where one of the aliens had butted their gun into his skull. Trisk stood next to the group with his own plaster pulled out now. 

"Take her weapons!" the Togruta man who stood at the front of the group ordered Trisk.

Trisk patted her down and pulled the blaster from her holster and took the thermal detonator from Jyn's pocket. He pushed her down to her knees and the Togruta man stepped over Cassian and brought his blaster down onto Jyn's head with a crack and knocked her out cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally delivered that longer chapter I promised. Hopefully, we can keep most of them like this :D I hope you enjoyed, and as always thank you for reading. The wonderful comments make me excited to write more!


	7. The Factory

When Jyn regained her consciousness she was bound with her hands above her head and hanging from pipes on the ceiling, her toes skimmed the ground and the pressure of her body weight on her arms was nearly unbearable. Her mouth and throat were covered in thick dried blood from her broken nose and a trail of dried blood ran down the side of her face from her hairline. 

The chains holding her to the pipes above rattled loudly as he wriggled her body and tried to shake free of the metal tightly wrapped around her wrists and cutting off circulation to her hands. 

The room was cold and damp its metal walls covered in water stains and part of the pipe system above Jyn was dripping cool water onto her face. Jyn was chained up in an old disused engine room and no one other than her inhabited the room. 

Jyn gripped hold of the chains that were pressed up against her and wrapped tightly around her wrists. She attempted to swing her legs up and wrap her feet into them so she could attempt to loosen the grip they had on her hands only he attempt to swing her legs up resulted in a deep stinging pain of her still injured leg. They dropped back down and Jyn gasped in pain. She braced herself for the pain and with a  swung her legs up again and managed to wrap her feet around the chains, keeping them in place. She hung with her feet and legs wrapped in the chains and slowly lowered her right foot to her hand, tucked under the leg of her trousers and inside her sock was the communicator Leíra had given her. 

Jyn attempted to pull it free of the sock and it slipped out of her grasp and fell to the floor with a gentle thud and to which Jyn angrily pulled on her chains. 

"Oh for kriffs sake!" She groaned in annoyance and continued to pull angrily on her chains. The pipes creaked and rattled with the weight of her tugs and the one her chain was wrapped around gave way with a loud burst and Jyn along with a stream of icy cold water fell onto the floor. 

Jyn landed rather ungracefully on her back and a pipe fell from the ceiling and hit her stomach causing Jyn to cry out in pain. The door to the old engine burst open and a man dressed in heavy green armour ran into the room.

"What in the name of- !" He stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Jyn laying on the floor with a stream of water pouring from the ceiling onto her. He cursed in anger as he splashed through the soaked floor and reached her.

Jyn lay groaning in pain and he seized her shoulder and pulled her to her feet, he held a heavy blaster in one hand and his other was digging his fingernails into her shoulder. Jyn swung her hands at him, the chains coiled up around her fingers and she smashed them directly into his face and pushed the chain to his throat, she dived round to his back still gripping the chains tightly and yanked on them hard. The man fell to the ground and pulled Jyn down with him. She wrapped her legs tightly around his body and kept pulling on the chains that were snaked around his throat. His feet kicked wildly at the air and his hands reached desperately behind him and he clawed at her face, his nails raking down one eye and cutting her eyelid deeply. Jyn screamed out and didn't relent her grip until his whole body went limp against hers. She let go of the chains still wrapped around her wrists panted from the exertion, she struggled to get free of where she lay under the man's body and finally managed to push herself free. She pulled herself to the knees, she was completely soaked through from the stream of water still pouring out of the broken pipe above. Jyn ran her hands along the flooded ground desperately looking for the communicator that had slipped free of her grip when she had been chained up. Her fingers found the small object and she pulled it from the water. 

"Leíra?! Leíra can you hear me" she called desperately, the soaked communicator still flickering with life.

"Jy-  What hap-" the words were being cut off but Jyn recognised the deep voice on the other end.

"Oh thank the maker. Leíra, Trisk betrayed us, it was a setup, they knocked us out" Jyn said with impatience, she tucked the communicator into her hair behind her ear and reached for the blaster rifle on the floor her hands still chained together and it made taking hold of the rifle difficult.

"Jyn. Wh- took you. Do you know where-" Leíra called into the communicator.

"Heavily armoured, all in green plating, the one I just took down has a silver crescent moon painted onto his shoulder piece, I think the others did as well" Jyn said as she struggled to her feet, her grip on the blaster was awkward and tricky to find a spot where she could easily pull the trigger while her wrists were so tightly bound.

"That's Shi'ala's people. They're held up in a disused factory, I can get there but I won't be able to make it inside, I can provide transport if you guys can get outside. Do you know where Cass is?" Leíra in a rushed voice and thankfully the comm channel cleared up and Jyn could actually understand the Twi'lek now. 

"I am just leaving the room they had me chained up in, I can't give an answer on where he is just yet," Jyn said as she stepped out of the flooded engine room that she had been restrained in."Quick and unimportant question, Why did Cass call you Keely back when we were landing?"

"It's an old nickname from when we were on a mission together years back" Leíra responded with a laugh. 

Jyn was in a small corridor that had multiple doors, all were open and had rooms much like the one she had been kept. She held the gun in front of her and started heading through towards the end of the hall where a large open door frame led to a massive and high-ceilinged factory filled with derelict machinery. 

"Leíra I need you go silent on the comm channel till I say so" Jyn whispered as she caught sight of four heavily armed men patrolling the factory. She crouched low behind a large metal crate and scanned the room. There was a large glass window high up at the top of the factory room that must have been the bosses office on the other side, Jyn gave that as her best bet to finding Cassian.

She crept around the side of the large metal crate and searched the room again. One of the men had broken off from the group and started heading towards Jyn. She rolled away from the crate and pulled herself next to a large hydraulic press and headed round the side opposite to where the man was walking. Jyn made it to the metal steps that lead up to a catwalk above the factory and put one foot onto the creaking metal with an internal cringe at the noise it made. She continued up the steps slowly making her way and keeping low so not to be seen. Once Jyn had reached the catwalk above the factory she headed for an old archaic looking door with a broken panel and dropped her blaster onto the ground so she could pull the door up she kicked her blaster under the gap she made and slowly lowered herself onto the ground and slid under before letting it drop back down with a loud thud. 

She picked the blaster up again, her grip on the weapon still uncomfortable from the chains. She was nearing the office that overwatches the factory bellow and she could see the door to the well lit room up ahead, it was wide open and Jyn could see a tall Togruta woman in heavy green armour with the same silver moon painted on her armour. 

The sound of people running towards the hallway Jyn was crouched in could be heard and Jyn dived for cover in an open door frame to a dark and unlit room. The group of people Jyn had seen in the factory ran past her and into the room that the Togruta woman stood in. 

"Shi'ala! She's escaped!" The man at the front of the group called out the second he made it into the room. "Harlan's dead!"

"What! Fan out! I want her found!" Shi'ala's voice barked out "Now!" she added impatiently and a group far larger than the one that had just entered the room ran out with their blasters held. Evidently, none of them thought she had made it to the upper levels quite so quickly and they didn't even consider checking the room Jyn was in.

"Where's your friend going?!!" Shi'ala demanded and Cassian's heavily accented voice answered in a sardonic drawl " Oh I don't know, the local trader maybe"

A loud thud echoed out and it sounded much like a piece of metal making contact with flesh and it was followed instantly by Cassian screaming out in pain and Jyn felt her gut twist inside her. She held the blaster up and leapt from the room she was in and slowly walked into the office. Blaster directly pointed at Shi'ala.

The Torguta woman stood there, a long piece of metal piping raised in her hands. Trisk stood next to Cassian with a blaster in his hand. He caught sight of Jyn and grabbed Cassian and pressed the blaster pistol into his face. Cassian was knelt limply on the ground with his hands unchained and dried blood covering his battered and bruised face. Jyn held her blaster pointed at Trisk and Shi'ala dropped the pipe and made a dive for her Blaster pistol and Jyn quickly turned and fire a shot into the woman's belly before taking aim of Trisk again. Shi'ala fell to the ground with a grunt of pain. 

"Release him," Jyn said cooly. Her eyes glancing at Cassian, he was watching her intently one of his eyes had become puffy and swollen from his beatings.

"I don't think so" Trisk pressed his blaster deeper into Cassian's cheek. 

"I don't care about you, or that you betrayed the Alliance, I just want him. Just let me take him and leave" Jyn spoke with a calmness in her voice. 

"I thought it would only be him, I didn't realise there would be more than one" Trisk hesitated "I didn't want this to happen. It was only meant to be him" Trisk's grip loosened and he stepped back from Cassian who promptly slumped to the floor. 

"Just let me walk awa-" Trisk started and Jyn wasted no time in shooting the man in the chest. He had an open-mouthed expression of shock before dropping to the ground. Dead. 

Cassian crawled towards Trisk's body and pulled the blaster pistol from the man's lifeless hands and Jyn rushed over to him and pulled him up to his feet. 

Cassian turned and aimed his blaster at Shi'ala who had propped herself up on one hand and the other clenched over the blaster wound. "Where's my datapad?!" Cassian demanded and Shi'ala wasted no time removing the item from her pocket and chucking it to him with the blood covered hand she had been holding her wound with. Jyn recognised the file as the one that had all of K-2SO's back up files on, it had still been in Cassian's jacket when they had arrived on Nar Shaddaa. He caught the file and tucked it into his shirt pocket, his jacket was nowhere to be seen. 

"Now. I want the data file that the rebel operatives created before you sold them out to the Imperials" Cassian's voice carried loud and Jyn was afraid that Shi'ala's guards had heard the blaster fire.

"I don't have it anymore I sold it!" Shi'ala shifted and yelled out in pain at the movement.

"To who?!" Cassian walked over to the woman and placed his foot on the blaster wound on her belly. Shi'ala fell backwards onto the ground in pain as Cassian applied pressure. 

"I can't tell you! He will kill me!" She screamed out in pain as Cassian's pushed harder. 

"And you think I won't?" He spat blood from his mouth onto the floor away from the woman and wiped his blood covered face with his free hand. 

"It was a Hutt" she panted out, her face filled with terror "I sold the file to a Hutt. The head of the Desilijic clan!"

Cassian's face grew dark at the news. "One last thing. The operatives you sold out. Two are unaccoun-"

"Imperial work camp on Balmorra" she cut Cassian off, answering him before he could finish.

"Thank you," Cassian said before raising the blaster and firing a single shot into her face.

He turned to look at Jyn who stood there, equally as bloody. He placed the blaster into his empty holster and went to work at removing the chains still tightly coiled around Jyn's wrists. They dropped to the floor with a clang and Cassian pulled Jyn into his arms. 

"They said they killed you" Cassian's hot breath hit her neck and Jyn clung to him and she could hear his voice shake. She held onto Cassian, her face buried in his shoulder. 

"We need to get moving, there's no way they didn't hear all this" Jyn finally broke away from Cassian and gestured to the two bodies on the floor.

"Leíra are you here yet?" Jyn asked as she pulled the communicator out from where it had been nestled behind her ear. 

"Five minutes out" came Leíra's short reply.

"Jyn, come on" Cassian held a hand out to her and Jyn took it, her blaster rifle being held loosely at her side by her other hand.

 They moved through the building hand in hand, only going as fast as either of their bruised bodies would allow, Cassian pulled Jyn down behind a large crate as three of Shi'alas men ran past them. The second they had their backs to Cassian and Jyn the pair took aim and quickly shot them in their backs.  Jyn and Cassian ran past the bodies and headed towards the main door of the factory. Cassian shot the panel and the large door opened with a crash.

Out at the front of the Factory was an old four seater speeder and Leíra sat in the front of it. Jyn and Cassian climbed into the back seats and Leíra took off before Cassian could even pull the door shut behind himself.

"What the kriff happened?" Leíra wasted no time shouting.

"Trisk sold me out to Shi'ala, said she promised him the data file in return for me, I had dealt with her years back, didn't realise that she was the person we were looking for. Don't think Trisk realised she already sold the file to Jabba" Cassian said in a weak voice. 

"Jabba?! Oh, you have got to be kidding me" Leíra said in an exasperated voice.

"That's not all" Jyn spoke up, " Rin said the two operatives still alive are in an Imperial work camp on Balmorra. That's where they make all the AT walkers. I heard about the place back when I was a prisoner on Wobani"

"The Alliance won't authorise a rescue mission for them," Cassian said bleakly.

"They don't have to authorise it if we don't tell them were going," Jyn said slyly. 

"What makes you think that storming into an imperial work camp with no help is a good idea, Erso" Cassian gave a huff at the idea of it.

"Don't, Erso me," Jyn said with a look of detest "Plus when has anything we have done been a good idea"

"I'm in," Leíra said in a serious voice. " I know a few good people that ended up in that work camp on Balmorra. I don't want anymore to die there"

"We will need a way in" Cassian replied, "How do you guys feel about stealing an Imperial security droid before we leave Nar Shaddaa?" 

Jyn's face grew into a grin as she looked at Cassian.

_She had a feeling that K-2SO would be rather unimpressed at their lack of a plan when they finally downloaded him into a new body, but then again, Kay was always unimpressed with anything._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so it's time we drag our lovable snarky sass droid back into this story.


	8. Leaving Nar Shaddaa

Jyn was sat at the holotable with her legs up resting on the surface of it and one hand holding a cold bacta pack to her nose while the other held a datapad on which Jyn was reading a rather poorly written adventure romance novel.

So far the plot was that of a human woman who's ship was destroyed by pirates and she survived in an escape pod only to be rescued by the pirates (although she is still unawares of this plot twist at this point in the novel) and forms a romantic relationship with the dashing rogue Captain of the ship and joins his crew. 

All in all,  Jyn decided to stop reading the book as she found it to be poorly written and give the novel a miss from then on. She threw the datapad onto the table with a thud and rose from her seat and headed towards the cockpit.  

She sunk into the Captain's chair with a sigh and pressed the button that would open up the comm channel to Cassian and Leíra. 

Jyn had elected to stay behind in case of an emergency exit being needed along with the fact it gave her time to nurse her wounds. 

She had heavily bruised her back from falling from the ceiling while chained and after the kick she had received to her nose she was certain it at least had some kind of fracturing going on under the skin. The pain ran deep into her back and she would wince in pain at certain movements.   

"Cassian," Jyn called out over the comm channel.

"Jyn? What's wrong?" Cassian responded almost instantly in a worried voice.

"Status report, Captain Andor," she said in a mock official tone. 

" _Forces, Jyn_. What happened to important stuff on the comm channel only?" Jyn could almost feel the roll of his eyes when he spoke and she suppressed a chuckle that threatened to escape. "We ditched the idea of taking an active droid, the first attempt wasn't such a successful one. Leíra knows a back alley dealer who might have one"

"Should I even ask what happened to the first droid?" Jyn sighed. 

"No" Cassian's reply was short.

"Rebel Rebel here got a bit overzealous with trying to disable a droid and ripped half of the core wires from the back of its head" Leíra chimed in on her own comm channel.

"Thanks, Keely" Cassian grumbled in response before abruptly adding "We're coming up on the place now. I will comm you once were out"  

Jyn sat in silence waiting by the communicator. 

Jyn had been reluctant to let Cassian go out with Leíra in search of a droid. He had stumbled back into the ship and headed straight into the refresher and when he finally left it he was bare chested and holding his blood-soaked shirt in one hand, his face was heavily bruised on one side and a deep cut sat above his brow and his chest was slightly redder and more bruised than it had been when they had left Scarif.

_"I will be fine Jyn" He had said with a sincerity that she had rarely heard before. They stood next to each other by the door of the refresher, their bodies almost touching. Jyn could feel a tightening in her chest at the close proximity to the half dressed Captain and she avoided looking directly into his eyes. Instead, her gaze fell upon different parts of him, his mouth, his throat, his bruised chest. Jyn stopped herself before her gaze fell any lower, and if her face wasn't as equally bruised as his he might have seen the flush in her cheeks._

_**Cassian Andor is a handsome man _._  ** _

_"I worry about you is all, I mean, you have barely been out of the med bay for a day and you already look like you should be back in it" She supplied._

_Cassian's uninjured brow rose slightly and if Jyn had actually been looking at his face she might have seen the smile that fell upon him for all but a brief second._

_His hand brushed lightly against her chin, she was still covered in dry blood and dirt from the fight with Shi'ala's people. Her eyes finally rose to meet his._

_"Jyn" the words were but a whisper on his lips and Cassian bowed his head down to meet hers and she pressed a hand lightly to his lips before he could bring them to her own._

_"When I'm not covered in my own blood, Cassian," She said not in an unkind voice. Instead, a gentle smile covered her face. "Although I quite like the lack of shirt, Maybe that can happen next time as well"_

_He gave a nod of acknowledgement with a grin spreading across his face and he brought his lips to her forehead before mumbling something that sounded rather like_ _" As you wish, Erso"  before pressing a kiss to her hair instead._

_Cassian left Jyn standing by the door of the refreshed his hand lingering on her chin before he finally turned and walked away from her._

Jyn hadn't intended to drift off into sleep while sitting in the Captain Andor's chair, but it happened like an uncontrollable force was dragging her into a void.

\-------

 

 

She awoke to the sound of loud the ships thrusters powering up and the sudden jolt that came with the ship taking off. Jyn's eyes shot open and it took a moment for them to adjust to the light and for her mind to overcome the fogginess that had followed her into her sleep. She looked around and Leíra was sat in the chair next to her, rather awkwardly reaching across to flip switches on Jyn's side of the console.

"You were out like a light. We could hear occasional snores over the comm channel. It was quite funny" The Twi'lek gave her an amused look. Jyn's hand proceeded to cover her face and she groaned into it. 

"Cassian's over by the ramp in the cargo hold" The woman informed her without giving her a second glance. 

Jyn rose up from her feet with a wince as her back stung ever worse than before after having slept in the chair.

When she entered the cargo hold she was greeted by the sight of Cassian sitting on the floor next to a KX droid that was lying on its front.

"Ah, she has woken from her beauty sleep I see" Cassian chuckled when he got sight of her standing in the doorway. She sunk down next to where Cassian sat and her face scrunched up at the pain swept through her body. Cassian saw the look she made and instantly leant over to help her lower herself to the floor.

"I'm doubting the dealer just gave you this" Jyn watched as Cassian linked a datapad up to the droids mainframe, plugging it into the back of its head.

"He did actually" Cassian declared, the corners of his mouth rising into a grin. "I almost have Kay installed"

"He just handed you the droid? Seriously?" Jyn's slightly bemused expression was enough for Cassian to supply her with an answer.

"I could tell he was a rebel sympathiser when I entered the place. Leíra flat out told him she worked for the rebellion and he was shocked, to say the least, but there was a piece of news he had heard only hours ago that made him quite happy to contribute to the cause. Calling us heroes and what not. He told us the Death Star was destroyed above Yavin 4 and that almost everyone has been hearing about its destruction. I commed in to confirm whether or not it was true a few minutes before we left Nar Shaddaa. It's true" Cassian's facial expression was somewhere between a grin and sadness. "Jyn, they did it"

An overwhelming swell of emotions filled Jyn, She wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad and she ended up settling somewhere in between the two. Pride for rogue one and grief for the fact they couldn't see it through to the end fell upon Jyn. It looked like Cassian was experiencing something similar to Jyn at the moment. He closed the gap between himself and Jyn and pulled her into a deep hug, It was full of more meaning than any of them could quite manage to say at the moment. 

Jyn pulled away from Cassian after what felt like them embracing for minutes upon minutes. Cassian held one hand gently on her back and the other was curled around the bun in her hair, She could feel his breath on her face and she held one hand to his bruised chest lightly and could feel the fast pace beating away under her fingers. She stared up at him, her heart stuttering as she leant up and kissed him, it was slow and tender and she felt herself be enveloped by the feel of Cassian.  

 "Oh what a lovely sight to see" A robotic voice sounded out next to them in what one could only describe as a sarcastic tone. 

Jyn jumped and pulled away from Cassian just enough to look at the droid sitting up right next to the two of them.

"Remind me why I thought it was a good idea to bring you back?" Cassian questioned bitterly, although his face betrayed him and a full smile fell across his features. 

"It's because I'm your only friend" K-2SO replied in a deadpan voice. 

"You are not my only friend," Cassian said defensively. 

"Jyn doesn't count anymore. You were practically eating each other's faces" The droid stood up and left the two of them on the floor and started to head out of the room "Oh, by all means, continue" 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the probable lameness of this chapter, I've been rather ill over the last few days, my mind struggled with the plot in this chapter so I will admit I just did a cop out and left jyn on the ship because it worked out easier to write when feeling awful.


End file.
